Do I Need Title 24? California Energy Compliance Guide

02Start with the authority and date, not an order for “a Title 24”

Title 24 is the California Building Standards Code, with multiple parts. Part 6 is the Energy Code; Part 11 is CALGreen and is separate. People often use “Title 24 report” to mean an energy calculation or compliance certificate, but that phrase does not identify the required task. A new dwelling, replacement windows and a tenant lighting alteration can each need different evidence.

Identify which city, county or other agency reviews the actual property. Then obtain its recorded building-permit application date. Statewide 2025 Energy Code requirements apply to applications on or after January 1, 2026; earlier applications may use the 2022 edition. Construction start, permit issuance and drawing dates are not substitutes. Ask the AHJ about amendments, expired permits or a new application before selecting software/forms.

A local energy provision may add another layer, but an online summary cannot establish its application to a parcel. Ask the agency which adopted requirements and submission instructions apply. Do not assume a permit exemption, a report exemption or a local requirement from the project’s nickname. Keep the answer and its source with the plans.

CEC 2025 Energy Code and application date

03Decision tree: choose the branch that describes the work

Work through these questions in order. More than one branch can apply: a remodel may include replacement windows, a new HVAC system and an addition. Record all affected components rather than choosing the least demanding project label.

• +New conditioned building or dwelling? Start with the new-construction branch. If the planning route is SB 9, keep that entitlement separate from building-permit energy compliance.
• +Increasing conditioned floor area or volume? Start with the addition branch. A conversion of previously unconditioned space can matter even when the outside footprint does not grow.
• +Creating an ADU or JADU? Identify new detached work, attached work and prior conditioning before choosing new-construction, addition or alteration requirements.
• +Converting a garage? Compare the supported existing conditioning status with the proposed room, ADU or retained storage use. Unchanged exterior dimensions do not settle the energy classification.
• +Changing existing rooms or components? Use the remodel and windows branches to distinguish finishes from changed envelope, lighting, ventilation, water heating or space conditioning.
• +Replacing heating/cooling or changing ducts? Use the HVAC branch to identify the altered system, appropriate records, required ECC verification and any already-sourced local overlay to confirm.
• +Replacing a water heater or changing hot-water distribution? Use the water-heater branch to separate an appliance proposal from the applicable alteration pathway and supporting evidence.
• +Replacing roofing or changing a roof/ceiling assembly? Use the roof branch to distinguish covering work, product ratings and assembly conditions before assuming a whole-house model.
• +Only a kitchen or bathroom? Use the room-level branch to separate finishes from lighting, ventilation, hot-water and window changes; small area does not establish an exemption.
• +Adding PV? Separate standalone equipment work from PV incorporated into an already-required building compliance package.
• +Installing an EV charger? Separate electrical/CALGreen evidence from Part 6 energy documents. A wall charger alone does not automatically require a whole-building model.
• +Installing storage or preparing for a future battery? Separate actual BESS installation, applicable new-building readiness provisions and an existing building-energy package.
• +More than one dwelling, common systems or mixed use? Establish classification and form families through the multifamily branch; do not copy a house’s certificate for the whole building.
• +Commercial tenant, lighting, HVAC, envelope or occupancy work? Use the commercial branch to define affected systems and applicable NRCC documentation.
• +Lighting-only tenant improvement? Identify fixtures, controls, affected areas and the current NRCC pathway. Maintenance lamp work and a regulated lighting alteration are not automatically identical.
• +Pool or spa equipment? Separate mandatory heating, circulation and cover provisions from a whole-building model; first-time heat and existing-heater alterations can differ.
• +Historic building? Bring designation records and preservation direction, but do not assume a blanket Part 6 waiver. Coordinate the actual addition, alteration or window scope.
• +Condo windows? Establish the building form family, rated opening schedule and envelope responsibility; HOA permission does not replace energy compliance.
• +Accessory structure? Compare unconditioned storage, conditioned accessory use and a dwelling. A backyard studio label does not determine occupancy or an exemption.
• +Change of occupancy? Confirm existing/proposed use and conditioning, then scope lighting, mechanical and envelope records rather than choosing a form from the tenant name.

Decision guide: hvacDecision guide: water heaterDecision guide: roofDecision guide: kitchen bathDecision guide: aduDecision guide: garage conversionDecision guide: ev chargerDecision guide: battery storageDecision guide: lighting tiDecision guide: remodelDecision guide: additionDecision guide: windowsDecision guide: solarDecision guide: new constructionDecision guide: sb9Decision guide: multifamilyDecision guide: commercialDecision guide: pool spaDecision guide: historicDecision guide: condo windowsDecision guide: accessory structureDecision guide: change of occupancy

04Compliance is not always a whole-building performance model

Prescriptive compliance demonstrates applicable requirements through specified measures and supporting documents. Performance compliance uses approved software and an appropriate boundary to evaluate a proposed design. Both retain applicable mandatory requirements. A performance result is not a way to ignore an independently required provision, and a prescriptive path does not mean no paperwork.

For alterations, the first question is which regulated components change. Painting a wall and replacing that wall’s windows are different energy scopes. Some finish-only work may not trigger new Part 6 documentation, while a limited equipment or envelope change can need focused records without requiring a model of every room. Have the project team and AHJ confirm the scope before purchasing analysis.

For additions, distinguish new conditioned area from retained existing space and altered components. Addition-alone and existing-plus-addition modeling are different boundaries, not freely interchangeable answers. The right decision starts with the plans and applicable approach. A larger model may be useful, but usefulness alone does not establish that it is the required permit deliverable.

Prescriptive versus performanceEnergy-modeling service

05Forms: identify the building before the certificate

Where the single-family family applies, CF1R records design compliance. Contractors complete applicable CF2R installation records; qualified ECC-Raters perform required CF3R verification. ECC, Energy Code Compliance, is current terminology. Older-cycle records may say HERS; that legacy wording does not automatically change the governing edition.

Multifamily buildings have category-specific documentation, including LMCC/LMCI/LMCV in the CEC low-rise multifamily catalog. The CEC also maintains a nonresidential/high-rise multifamily resource family. Do not assign CF1R solely because a room is residential or invent a height cutoff from this guide. Confirm classification and affected systems first.

For applicable nonresidential work, NRCC documents design compliance. NRCI installation, NRCV verification and NRCA acceptance records have separate purposes and responsible participants. Not every project needs every family. A completed design certificate is not proof that work was installed or testing passed.

CEC single-family formsCEC low-rise multifamily formsCEC nonresidential form resources

06A worked triage example: one remodel, several possible documents

ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY: an owner calls a project a kitchen remodel. The written scope initially lists cabinets and painting. Later drawings show replaced exterior windows, new lighting and relocated ventilation equipment. The energy question changes because the changed components are now visible—not because the marketing label changed.

The applicant identifies the reviewing agency and application date, then gives the designer/preparer a retained-versus-changed schedule. They determine which alteration documents are applicable and whether performance analysis would serve a supported purpose. If no envelope or system changes were actually proposed, the team would ask a different documentation question. This example grants no permit exemption or universal report waiver.

A useful response is a defined scope: these components require review, these inputs are missing, and this is the requested documentation stage. “Order a full model just in case” and “it is only a kitchen, so nothing applies” are both poor substitutes for that review. Ask for the basis and retain it.

Remodel decision guideWindow decision guide

07The five pieces of information that make the answer useful

Before requesting final output, assemble a short decision packet:

• +AHJ and application record: address/parcel, reviewing department, recorded building application date, permit identifiers and any prior direction about scope or edition.
• +Project type and boundaries: existing/proposed plans, building classification, conditioned floor area, dwelling count and clearly labeled additions, conversions, alterations and retained spaces.
• +Changed components: openings, assemblies, lighting, ventilation, heating/cooling, hot water, PV/storage and the areas each system serves. Identify retained equipment rather than assuming replacement.
• +Supported performance inputs: window U-factor/SHGC, assemblies/insulation and equipment schedules from the responsible designers. Mark unknowns as provisional instead of inventing values.
• +Requested stage: preliminary decision, permit package or correction. Include the actual reviewed set and complete comments for a revision, with a clear change summary.

08Choose the service after the decision

A homeowner may need help identifying the applicable design-document scope, not immediate field testing. An architect may need an early option comparison before product selections are final. A contractor may instead be missing installation or testing records. Identify the responsible task and participant rather than expecting one report order to cover all stages.

The published residential/commercial square-footage menu is a starting point for report pricing, not a declaration that every proposed change requires the same deliverable. Send the plans and open questions for scope review. This decision cluster complements the deeper service and technical guides; it does not replace project-specific interpretation by the reviewing agency.

Residential report serviceAdditions/remodels serviceADU serviceNew-construction serviceCommercial service

09Six first-decision questions

10Choose the next documentation step

Use the published residential/commercial square-footage menu to understand report pricing, then send a scoped request rather than assuming a full model is necessary. Field testing, acceptance testing, registry fees, CALGreen and AHJ permit fees are separate. Intake is not payment, production acceptance or permit approval. This is educational information, not legal advice; confirm the applicable requirements and documentation with the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ).

Confirm the application’s code editionWhat to send for an energy reviewCF1R versus installation/verification recordsSee published PricingGet a Quote / upload plans